“We both use a little owl so we should definitely do something together,” says Miek Van Melkebeke, the fifth generation of the family to work at Brouwerij De Ryck. “That would be a lot of fun.”
We are taking Miek up on that offer. De Ryck will be pouring three of their special beers at our #SMAAKDOWN16 event on 5 February 2016 in Het Huis Van Alijn in Ghent to celebrate the second birthday of Belgian Smaak. Tickets are currently on sale.
BROUWERIJ DE RYCK’S LITTLE OWL
While the owl in the Belgian Smaak logo aspires to wisdom, De Ryck’s owl is that of their Steenuilke beer, a blonde ale of 6.5% ABV which uses herbs from the local region and is named after the ‘steenuil’ species native to the area in which the brewery is situated.
“We were contacted by the RLVA, the Regional Landscape of the Flemish Ardennes who were desperately trying to make people aware that this little owl that is so typical for our region was on its way to becoming extinct,” says Miek. “They thought that in Belgium, if you want to make people aware of something or make them excited, maybe a beer is a good idea.”
We had just launched the Eagle range and doing something like this didn’t offer us any extra value. So we said no.
The beer was part of a bigger project which involved a series of events about the steenuil as well as the setting up of houses and trees at no cost in people’s back gardens to attract the birds. “It’s the tiniest little owl there is,” says Miek. “It’s a species of owl more commonly found in the Flemish Ardennes.”
It’s a beer that almost didn’t happen. “They initially wanted us to put the ‘Steenuilke’ label on our Eagle Blonde and sell it as the project’s beer,” says Miek. “That’s the way that some big breweries work. But that’s not who we are. We’re not about volume. We’re about quality. We had just launched the Eagle range and doing something like this didn’t offer us any extra value. So we said no.”
The RLVA’s persistence and the creativity of the De Ryck family meant that negotiations continued and an agreement was reached. “My mum’s enthusiasm to create new beers tied with the fact that we noticed a tendency in the last few years of people discovering or maybe rediscovering bitterness meant that we could stay true to the way we brew but also link the beer to the project.”
While the beer would be used to make people aware of the plight of the little owl, De Ryck had full control over the recipe. “All that they asked was that it was a blonde beer with an accessible ABV,” says Miek. “And that it has to carry the name, Steenuilke.”
With that agreement, De Ryck went to work. “We started doing some research about everything that’s growing in the habitat of that little animal,” she says. “And we ended up selecting three herbs for using in the beer.”
The three herbs are angelica, sweet woodruff and blackthorn. “We use the angelica root, the most dominant one and the most typical one for the region as well,” says Miek. “Then we have the sweet woodruff for which we use the root because that’s the most likely to add some taste. And then the last one is the blackthorn where we don’t use the berries but we use the flowers, the blossom. Whereas the angelica is very dominant and gives it the very typical grassy taste, the flowers of the blackthorn will round that taste off.”
The herbs are used for flavour and aroma. “We add the three of them together, but we don’t do it at the beginning because we want the bitterness from the hops,” she says. “It’s not like a gruut. The herbs go in more towards the end.”
Unlike the Eagle range, Steenuilke is available only in bottles. “We noticed that with bottle refermentation we are able to keep the perfect balance between the herbs and the hops which wasn’t possible on keg,” says Miek. “At the same time there is an evolution in the bottle. Just like Orval there is a noticeable evolution in taste after a few months that beer enthusiasts can get excited about.”
The label itself is quite striking and has divided both the creators of the beer and the public who drink it. “The RLVA wanted a photo of the little owl so that people would be aware of how it looked,” says Miek. “But we were like, really? A photo? On a glass? That’s going to look horrible. And when it’s washed you’re going to lose half of it. We wanted something graphic but that was too much for them, too far from that little owl.”
A lot of people joke that this label makes us the inventors of the QR code. But it’s a rare bird so it needs a rare label. I think it really appeals to the imagination.
“So we met half-way,” says Miek. “We launched a competition for people to send in ideas. The one that won it is the label that’s on the bottle now. It was a lady who did a woodcarving, filled it up with ink and put it on paper. It goes really well on the glasses and because it was made initially from the woodcarving, there was a link with nature. That convinced them.”
Are there people who don’t like it? “Some people find it horrifying,” says Miek. “A lot of people joke that this label makes us the inventors of the QR code. But it’s a rare bird so it needs a rare label. I think it really appeals to the imagination.”
When the project ended, RLVA and De Ryck decided it was a good idea to continue production of the beer. “In the last 2 years, we’ve really noticed the volume of Steenuilke has grown,” says Miek. “We say in Dutch, het heeft een demarrage gedaan.” A demarrage is a cycling term used by the Flemish referencing a sudden breakaway from the peloton which comes from the French word démarrage.
And it continues to grow in profile. “We’re doing a collaboration with Brussels Airlines to get Steenuilke in the air,” says Miek. “It’s limited in time, only six months. They wanted to make people aware that even though you’re in the air, you can still have a special drink, a more varied, more complex beer and one that is from a brewery that’s more unknown.”
You can try the Steenuilke as one of the beers at #SMAAKDOWN16. Tickets are on sale now.
BROUWERIJ DE RYCK’S ‘SPÉCIAL’ BEER
The second beer that De Ryck will pour at #SMAAKDOWN16 is their Spécial De Ryck, an amber Spéciale Belge Ale of 5.5% ABV. “It’s the oldest beer we’re brewing,” says Miek. “We’ve been brewing it since 1920. We’ve got the second generation of our brewery to thank for it.”
The roots of the Spéciale Belge style lie in the threat posed to Belgian breweries at the beginning of the last century by the growth in popularity of pilsner beer after the first world war. The Belgians held a large competition in which brewers could enter various beer styles to try to come up with a new special Belgian beer. “The competition took place at Grand Place in Brussels where the Belgian Brewers Federation are still located today,” says Miek. “The one that came out on top as the winner was from the style Spéciale Belge.”
A lot of breweries had that style back then, but today there are only seven of the original Spéciale Belges remaining.
The beer style is not dissimilar to an English pale ale. It’s generally amber, around 5% ABV with a rich flavour deriving from the use of caramelised malt and soft aromatic hops such as Saaz. It’s also got the signature yeast from each Belgian brewery who produces it. “It’s easily drinkable and uses darker malts and usually three different varieties of hops which at that time were difficult to get,” says Miek. “The Belgian brewers really wanted to show that although a lot of them were shut down during the war, they weren’t defeated.”
“A lot of breweries had that style back then, but today there are only seven of the original Spéciale Belges remaining,” says Miek. “You have the most well-known ones from Palm and De Koninck. In Gavere you have Tonneke from Brouwerij Contreras. And we’re proud to be one of those seven as well.”
It’s a beer style which waned in popularity in the last decade. “Just like our bigger colleagues, we’ve known the golden age of that type of beer,” says Miek. “Until 2007 that was our main volume. We did triple the volume of that beer of what we do today.”
But it seems it’s making a small comeback. “What we notice is – definitely in the last year again – and it’s the same with the Steenuilke, that because of the low ABV and more complex flavour profile than an ordinary lager, there’s more interest.”
BROUWERIJ DE RYCK’S GOLDEN EAGLE
Their most exclusive beer – the third of De Ryck’s beers to be poured at #SMAAKDOWN16 – is their Gouden Arend. “It’s a celebrational beer,” says Miek. “We launched it in September 2011 to celebrate two things: the 125th anniversary of the brewery; and the year that my brother saw the light and came to work at the brewery.”
Initially both Miek and her brother Bram wanted to avoid working at the brewery. “The more we saw of the effort of our mum, An and how much work was involved in competing with the big brewers, the more Bram and I were convinced we wouldn’t do so,” says Miek. “But it sticks to your skin. It runs through your veins. It’s part of you. You’re kind of rolled into it if you like it or not.”
We used to be called the Golden Eagle brewery but after the war the eagle symbol was associated with the Germans. The last thing you want is for people to think that there’s a link there.
Before joining the brewery in 2007 Miek worked as a speech therapist at Jan Palfijn hospital, after that at Maria Middelares and then at the Stroke Unit in Aalst. “I really liked doing it,” says Miek. “But there comes a time when you see the 125 years of history and Bram and I ask ourselves whether we’re going to be the ones who say we’re not interested.”
“Here, we dream big and if you place the first brick, in 2 years the brick will still be there,” says Miek. “That’s not the same in other jobs. I think that attracted me. I think that was a little bit the same for Bram in 2011.”
The new beer’s name reached back into their history for inspiration. “For us, we’re not just going to take a name that comes falling from the sky,” she says. “If we change, we do it out of respect for the history.”
“We changed the name of the brewery when we reopened after the war,” says Miek. “We used to be called the Golden Eagle brewery but after the war the eagle symbol was associated with the Germans. The last thing you want is for people to think that there’s a link there. So we changed it to our family name, De Ryck.”
The Gouden Arend (Golden Eagle) is a golden tripel of 9% ABV. “It ended up being a hoppy golden blond beer, full in flavour in the sense of bitterness, and with a nice citric hoppiness,” says Miek. “It’s the crown to our Eagle range and to our history and that’s why we chose that name.”
The one-off beer was so popular that De Ryck added it to their core range in 2013. But it’s only available in 75cl bottles. “For us it’s a reason to celebrate,” says Miek. “We want to tempt people to share it during a special moment with loved ones or friends.”
That special moment for you could be #SMAAKDOWN16. Tickets are on sale now:
